Jacksonville Review – February 2025

WELCOME TO 2025… we hope you enjoyed the holiday season!

We begin by highlighting some key accomplishments of the Friends of Jacksonville’s Historic Cemetery from the year just passed, with thanks to all those whose efforts made them possible:

History Programs:

• Five History Saturday talks and tours, coordinated and emceed by Ellen Martin:

  • Spirits, Bars & Prohibition, presented by Carolyn Kingsnorth and Steve Corelis
  • Courtship & Love Customs in Early Jacksonville, by Lynn Ransford and Anne Peugh
  • Lawyers, Judges & Sheriffs, by Ireland and Roan Reed, Robert Hight, Ellen Martin
  • Entertainment and Leisure, presented by Teresa Smith and Pam Smith
  • Love & Marriage in Early Jacksonville, presented by Lynn Ransford and Anne Peugh

• Gravesite Flags for Veterans (Memorial Day to Veterans Day), led by Bev Smith

• Cemetery Tours for Rogue Manor residents, organized by Gail Nicholson

• Visitor Information Brochures updated and continuously available at no charge: Overview/Walking Tour; Civil War Veterans in the JHC; The Chinese in Jacksonville’s History

Grounds Maintenance Programs:

• Two Community Clean-Up Days, led by FOJHC Board members and Sexton, Rick Shields

• 185 Adopt-A-Block plots cared for by volunteers, managed by Eric Rogers

Cemetery Fixtures Maintenance Programs:

• Three Block and Marker Restoration Projects:

  • Toepper Block: full restoration, by Kurt and John Elliott
  • Fitts, Greenman, Taylor Block: bollard repair, by John McGlothlin and Dee Reynar
  • Helms Block: install original Minnie Helms stones, by John McGlothlin and Dee Reynar

• Five Marker Cleaning Workshops, organized and led by Dee and Ken Reynar

Memorial Plaque and Boulder Installation:

• In recognition of the life and accomplishments of Dirk Siedlecki, by the FOJHC Board.

• Special landscape design, installation, and maintenance, by the Jacksonville Garden Club

We also welcomed Bev Smith and Bradley Harris to the Friends board in 2024, and we thank retiring City Councilor and cemetery liaison Mike McClain for initiating the new Cemetery Committee. Finally, as wildfire season ended, Sexton Rick Shields arranged for the removal of several more hazardous trees in the cemetery, necessary for the safety of visitors and fixtures alike. Our complete “Report Card for 2024” will be available on the Friends’ website soon.

2025 Year of the Snake Lunar New Year Celebration, Saturday, February 15, 10am-3pm. (New City Hall, sponsored by the Southern Oregon Chinese Cultural Association)—While this event is not affiliated with the FOJHC, copies of our recently updated brochure, The Chinese in Jacksonville’s History, are available free of charge in the cemetery at the entrance to the Interpretive Center and in town at the Visitor Information Center near the Post Office.

Please check our website at friendsjvillecemetery.org for future events and programs.

Featured image: Tree Maintenance in the Cemetery, December 2024 – Photo by Dick Meyers